


Midnight Oil

by Jay_Crow



Series: Sander Statements [3]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series), The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: Body Horror, Bugs & Insects, Gen, Horror
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-13
Updated: 2019-09-13
Packaged: 2020-10-17 11:23:18
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 672
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20620226
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jay_Crow/pseuds/Jay_Crow
Summary: Statement of Logan Burke, regarding his research habits. Statement taken direct from subject 19 August, 2019. Statement taken by Thomas Sanders, Collections Overseer of the Usher Foundation.





	Midnight Oil

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry for the wait between the last statement and this one! I didn't have access to a keyboard for a while. The next one should be out sooner, hopefully, but I'll be busy for a while so who knows? Anyway, big warning for insect body horror typical of Corruption.

THOMAS: Statement of Logan Burke, regarding his research habits. Statement taken direct from subject 19 August, 2019. Statement taken by Thomas Sanders, Collections Overseer of the Usher Foundation. Now, start from the beginning please? For the record.

LOGAN: Very well. As you know, I tend to stay past the recommended end of the work day, which you have reprimanded me for previously. Generally, I spend this time looking over research done that day, making sure sources are taken down, citations are correct, that manner of edit. I was looking back over the McGregor case - the one about the ocean? - when I noticed something… odd. Now, you know I’m not one for sentiment or intuition, but I could swear that there was information in the document that had not been there before. Previously, it had simply contained details about the case. Locations, names, that sort of thing. But as I kept looking, I saw more than that. There were details about the subject’s childhood, about how her father had been a neglectful alcoholic, how other children thought she was strange, things which I was certain had not been in the original statement. I shrugged it off, however, as perhaps she had given this amount of specificity before and I simply hadn’t noticed. After all, I wasn’t assigned the case personally. I could have forgotten or missed something. When I moved on to the Botolph case, I was not able to dismiss it so easily. There were comments of the same variety, and just as detailed and invasive. This one also included… photos. Those, I was absolutely sure had not been there before. You need to understand, there was no way these pictures could have been taken. The statement giver specifically mentioned that there had been no witnesses to the events that had taken place but here these were, stark tableaus of this person’s trauma spread out for all to see. For me to see. I wanted to look away, I really did… but I couldn’t. I could no more stop looking than I could stop breathing. And so I picked up another case file. The Juliard case. I don’t know why that one. I wish it had been any other. There were comments, and pictures. They were absolutely horrifying, but I still couldn’t stop looking. This case was before your time, Thomas. It is one of the few we have concrete evidence of, though I almost wish we didn’t. Hailey Juliard gave a statement about a colony of termites in her basement, which had colonized the bodies of several rats, and her pet cat. She finally gave a statement after her elderly mother was… consumed. We were unable to get a follow up because Ms. Juliard went missing a few days after. Her body was found soon after. The pictures showed the termite mound at its peak. Their bodies were riddled with holes, right down to the bone, with insects crawling in and out. They were melded together, flesh fusing at the edges into one thrumming mass of filth. Hailey’s mouth was gaping in a silent scream. Her eyes were open and staring. I sat there, looking at that same image for the rest of the night. And that’s how you found me when you came in this morning. 

THOMAS: Statement ends. Thank you Logan. Go take a nap in the break room, please. You need to sleep. 

LOGAN: Ah… yes, I suppose so. I’ll… do that. 

[door opens and closes]

THOMAS: (sighs) Supplemental: There isn’t much that can be done to verify this statement. The photos Logan mentions aren’t in the files he specifies, nor are the comments. However, Logan is not one for frivolities, and I trust his word and perception of events. I’m just not sure what to do about it. There’s obviously something else going on here, but what? In the meantime, I guess I’ll just try and make sure that Logan doesn’t stay overnight anymore. Actually, I should go make sure he’s not working right now. End recording.


End file.
